The Digest – Gameweek Twelve

Tottenham bring Gameweek 12 to a close, sparing Aston Villa a spanking but throwing Fantasy managers options from all angles. Elsewhere, a pre-season certainty returned to form in timely fashion, reviving an option that had previously seemed irresistible…

The Player

While Yakubu and Heidar Helguson pulled a brace apiece out of the hat to provide further budget considerations up front, it was Leighton Baines’ points haul that handed Fantasy managers maximum food for thought.

Going into the season, Baines looked nailed-on for our lineups. Five goals and 11 assists last season, following on from 9 in 2009/10, the Everton left-back was delivering the returns of a mid-price midfielder, with the opportunity to throw in the occasional clean sheet. With Mikel Arteta’s departure to the Emirates, Baines was also installed as the Goodison penalty taker – surely a factor that would seal the deal?

Yet Baines’ Fantasy stock gradually fell as the gameweeks passed. Everton’s inability to claim clean sheets, compounded by key injuries and a run of opponents that limited their attacking potential, meant that the former Wigan man’s potential man dried up. Having claimed strong initial ownership in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, we witnessed heavy sales and a price drop from 8.0 to 7.8.

However, the theories thrown around at the start of the season should remain fresh in our minds. We explored matters further in last week’s Monitor article – all the statistical signposts pointed to a turn in fortunes – and so it proved.

Baines, at his best when Everton have some form, is effectively an immensely effective winger with set-piece command and the added potential of clean sheets. For 7.8 that seems a fair deal – when you consider Everton’s fixtures hand them opponents that give them a fair crack of building on Saturday’s win, suddenly his acquisition continues to make sense all over again. The problem now is finding the funds – it all seemed so easy back in August.

The Team

Back in gameweek 10, The Digest sang the praises of Harry Redknapp’s side, emphasising the wealth of attacking talent open to Fantasy managers. Just a couple of gamweeks on and, while Harry’s been under the surgeon’s knife, little has changed in terms of his team’s potential.

Last night’s 2-0 win over a Villa side, who seemingly turned up at White Hart Lane to frustrate and contain, should have been more emphatic. Tottenham’s midfield conjured opportunities, the pace of Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon tormented Alex McLeish’s bewildered full-backs, while Emmanuel Adebayor found his scoring touch after a recent drought.

Defensively, Tottenham also look composed. Admittedly, Villa posed little threat but with Ledley King restored to the heart of the back-four, Redknapp’s side were more resolute and showed every indication that, as mid-price defensive assets go, they are worthy of consideration. Full-backs Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Kyle Walker stand out as the key options – two more considerations within a Tottenham squad that remains buoyant and brimming with Fantasy profit.

The Talking Point

Which brings us nicely to the talking point. Gareth Bale’s performance last night took him to 3 assists and 3 goals in his last three gameweeks. Seven bonus points have inevitably followed in a spell that has seen him suddenly emerge as a consistent Fantasy performer.

We spoke at length about his potential in last week’s Monitor article – our Members will have seen plenty of evidence in that article which pre-empted last night’s assist returns. The theory is that Bale is a different animal this season; his form and display last night only added further evidence to support that view.

The issue for Fantasy managers concerns the acquisition of Bale as an alternative to Rafael Van der Vaart. There can be no question that the Dutchman is a prime Fantasy asset – a playmaker who commands set-pieces and penalties, and a player who has scored 19 goals in the last year – a total bettered only by Robin Van Persie and Darren Bent.

Van der Vaart has drawn blanks in his last two outings, however, and, last night’s withdrawal on 68 minutes was the second consecutive game in which he’s been hauled off with over 20 minutes on the clock – the fourth time in six gameweeks.

With Jermain Defoe straining at the leash, this tactic of Redknapp’s seems set to continue, meaning that Van der Vaart will need to damage opponents and return Fantasy points in just over an hour per game. Bale, in comparison, is unquestionably a 90-minute man and looks immune to rest and rotation. With Cameroon failing to qualify for the African Cup of Nations, there’s also little chance that Bale will be forced to shift to left-back to cover for the loss of Assou-Ekotto, as he was on occasions last time round.

There’s a simple solution to the conundrum – draft in both Van der Vaart and Bale. This may jar at first but, had the Dutchman been classified as a forward, you could argue it would be a solution adopted without too much thought.

As it stands, Tottenham continue to have a run of favourable fixtures in front of them – a run that suggests that the wins and goals will go on flowing. Aside from David Silva and perhaps Frank Lampard, you can argue that there are currently few, if any midfielders, who offer the scoring potential of the Tottenham pair going into the New Year.

The Van der Vaart/Bale pairing is a Fantasy basket that appears to cradle all our eggs rather nicely.